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This Weekend
Monday is Sports Day, which makes this a three-day weekend, and Sapporo opens its biggest art show of the fall: 140 works by Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro and two other masters, starting Saturday. Down south, Hakodate's harbor island hosts its first outdoor rock festival, with FLOW closing the night in the middle of their "NARUTO THE ROCK" world tour.
Also, we are proud to announce the start of the Hokkaido Today YouTube Channel and podcast, where you can watch and listen to the video podcast of the People of Hokkaido series we’ve started. More to come there. Reach out to us if you’re interested in being featured.
AUTUMN COLOR WATCH (forecast peaks)
Furano Rokugo around Oct 9 · Kanayama Lake (Minami-Furano) around Oct 10 · Fukuhara Sanso (Shikaoi) around Oct 11 · Sounkyo's foothills and Jozankei in early to mid October · Asahikawa's Kamui Kotan gorge, a place of Ainu legend, in early to mid October.
今週の一言 · WORD OF THE WEEK
錦
Nishiki (nee-shee-kee)
"Brocade," the richly woven silk, and the root of two words that define this week. 錦絵 (nishiki-e), "brocade pictures," is the name for the full-color woodblock prints of Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro now opening in Sapporo. 錦秋 (kinshū), "brocade autumn," is the poetic word for peak foliage, which from Sounkyo to Jozankei is arriving right now.
SAPPORO
Featured
The Five Great Ukiyo-e Masters at Sapporo Art Park Museum
Opens Sat Oct 10 (through Jan 11, 2027), 9:45–17:00, last entry 16:30 - The Five Great Ukiyo-e Masters: Utamaro, Sharaku, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi · Sapporo Art Park Museum, Minami-ku — About 140 masterpieces by the five artists who defined ukiyo-e, from beauties and kabuki actors to landscapes. Open on Sports Day (Mon Oct 12); closed Tue Oct 13. Day-of tickets ¥1,700 adults, ¥1,100 high school and university, ¥700 elementary and junior high; preschoolers free. Workshops on select days include ukiyo-e printing.
CALLING ALL CAT LOVERS!
Through Oct 25 - Mitsuaki Iwago's "World Cat Walk: Under the European Sky" · Sapporo Factory Gallery (Sanjokan 3F) — Photographs by the NHK "Cat Walk" photographer of cats living among Europe's old streets. Open daily, weekdays 12:00–16:00, weekends and holidays 11:00–17:00. ¥1,500 adults, ¥800 junior high and high school, elementary and under free.
Fri Oct 9 – Wed Oct 14 - Group 18% GRAY, 18th photo exhibition "Playing with Light, Part 1" · Fujifilm Photo Salon Sapporo, free, 10:00–18:00 — Gallery talk Sun Oct 11. Part 2 runs Oct 16–21; closed Thu Oct 15 for the changeover.
Sat Oct 10 – Mon Oct 12, 16:30–19:30, last entry 18:45 - Autumn Leaves Village & Evening Building Lights · Historic Village of Hokkaido, Atsubetsu-ku — Candlelit paths and lanterns among historic buildings and turning leaves, with pumpkin soup from 17:00. ¥700 from 16:30 (¥1,000 if you enter before 16:00); free for 65+ and junior high and under.
Mon Oct 12 (holiday), 17:00 (doors 16:00) - Maki Ohguro "55 BLACK RETURNS" tour · hitaru — A powerhouse J-pop and rock vocalist who has been on the charts since the 1990s.
Markets this week - Morning Market at Higashi Honganji Temple (Thu Oct 8, 10:00–14:00) · Nakajima Park flea market (Sat Oct 10, 10:00–13:00) · May Marché, fresh local produce (Sat Oct 10, 10:30–noon) · Maruyama Park Marché (Sat Oct 10, 10:00–11:00)
BEYOND SAPPORO
Featured
THE BOOSTER ROCK FES. 2026
HAKODATE
Sat Oct 10, gates 10:00, music 11:00–20:00 - THE BOOSTER ROCK FES. 2026 · Midori no Shima, Hakodate — Hakodate's first outdoor rock festival, on a harbor island ringed by water on three sides. Six bands: TOTALFAT (11:00), Blue Mash (12:20), ALI (13:40), Survive Said The Prophet (15:00, a band that writes largely in English), Young Skinny (16:20), and FLOW closing at 17:50, mid-way through their "NARUTO THE ROCK" world tour. Kitchen cars on site, and the venue is a 10-minute walk from a Hakodate tram stop. ¥9,800 general, ¥5,000 junior high through university; high-school seniors and elementary kids and under are free.
AKAN | KUSHIRO
Thu Oct 8 – Sat Oct 31 - AKAN AINU ARTWEEK 2026 · Lake Akan Onsen & Ainu Kotan, free — Ainu artists and contemporary artists show work across the hot-spring town, in craft shops, galleries, the bus center, the lake pier, and aboard the Mashu-maru sightseeing boat (viewable only while it's sailing). This year debuts the first large installation co-created by Ainu and contemporary artists. Theme: "Pirka Kar Kar — on the act of making something beautiful." Participants include actor-photographer Masaya Kato and KOM_I. The Bokke Promenade works can't be viewed after 17:00, when KAMUY LUMINA begins.
Thu Oct 8 – Sat Oct 10 - 77th Marimo Festival · Lake Akan, free — A ceremony to protect marimo, the rare spherical algae of Lake Akan, led by Ainu communities. Fri Oct 9: marimo welcome ceremony at the lakeshore park at 19:00, then Ainu dance at the Akan Lake Ainu Theater "Ikor" at 20:00 (free). Sat Oct 10 at 11:30: log-canoe ceremony returning the marimo to the lake. Fireworks over the lake each evening at 20:15
ASAHIKAWA + DAISETSUZAN
Through Mon Oct 12, 18:00–21:00, last entry 20:30 - Miracle Illuminate 9th · Sounkyo Onsen, Momijidani — Peak autumn color lit at night in Daisetsuzan National Park, with digital art on the path that reacts to your footsteps. ¥1,000 conservation fee includes an umbrella rental.
NISEKO | KUCHAN
Sat Oct 10, 20:00 (about 5 minutes) - Final HANAZONO summer fireworks of the season · Niseko HANAZONO Resort — Fireworks launched from the summer ski slope, paired with the Mountain Lights installation. Free to watch from afar; close viewing needs a Mountain Lights ticket (adults ¥3,500, elementary ¥1,600, preschool free).
OTARU
Sat Oct 10 – Mon Oct 12, 11:00–19:00 (Mon until 18:00) - YOI-TARU Taste Festival 2026 · Otaru Port Square, free entry — Otaru and Yoichi's autumn food at the harbor's new venue. A different regional pot each day, 500 servings daily: Yoichi shrimp soup Saturday, Otaru scallop soup Sunday, mantis shrimp soup Monday. Eight local food stalls plus a Nikka Whisky Yoichi booth, live jazz by TINY JAZZ STEPS, bagpipes from the Yoichi Piping Society, an apple-peeling world championship, and a scallop-stacking game.
WEEKEND PICK
Lake Akan: an Ainu ceremony, an art walk, and autumn color at once
If you travel for one thing this long weekend, make it Akan. On Friday night the marimo welcome ceremony takes place at the lakeshore, followed by free Ainu dance at the Ikor theater. On Saturday at 11:30 Ainu elders return the marimo to the lake from log canoes. Between ceremonies you can walk the town and find the first works of Akan Ainu Artweek in craft shops, galleries and on the lake pier, with the leaves just turning around the water. Stay for fireworks over the lake each evening at 20:15.
See you out there. · 今週末も楽しんで。
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